BY
Sophie Griffiths

Thomas Cook to close 50 stores affecting 400 staff

Thomas Cook has revealed plans to close another 50 shops as part of its ongoing review of its retail network affecting 400 employees.

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Thomas Cook to close 50 stores

The 50 store closures, if agreed, will take place between now and March 2018 and will be around two thirds Thomas Cook stores and a third Co-operative Travel, a spokesperson confirmed.

Around 400 people will be affected but the spokesperson added that the group anticipated "a large proportion would be redeployed".

The stores affected are either in close proximity to others or are located “where a decline in footfall has impacted profitability”.

The latest news caps a turbulent year for the brand, which dropped to third place among licensed tour operators in October, behind Jet2holidays. Cook also announced the closure of 39 shops in February and 17 in May, plus the loss of 51 homeworking jobs in April.

Thomas Cook UK’s director of retail and customer experience Kathryn Darbandi said: “We continually review our network of stores across the UK to make sure we’re offering customers the best of Thomas Cook, and it is clear that to succeed we have to operate as a truly omni-channel business. We’re one Thomas Cook to our customers and we will offer them a world-class service whichever channel they chose to book, be that retail or online.”

In 2017, 47% of Thomas Cook holidays were booked in store, but online sales in the UK grew by 27%.